Advertising & Marketing

But while the ads and the blogs exist, and they’re evidently expanding, not every agency and company is jumping in to buy. “Pioneer brands have, and so have some of our clients. It hasn’t gotten beyond test-and-learn with their ad products as they emerge, however,” Azher Ahmed, EVP and director of digital at DDB Chicago wrote in an email.

“At first glance, Bain seems like a natural pick given his role and reputation within the company,” said said Azher Ahmed, director of digital operations, DDB Chicago. “However, one could easily make the argument you’re picking a man who’s in charge of a problem area—monetization—and they obviously have a long way to go there. Are you magnifying the problems or giving him the free reign he needs to make more sweeping changes?”

In fact, Ahmed is putting his money on Jack Dorsey, the interim CEO who led Twitter from 2007-2008. Ahmed believes he could be the guy despite the entanglements that would seem to come with Dorsey’s current CEO position of Square, the payments company he founded in 2009.

“He’s a little older, a little wiser and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him shake things up [at Twitter] dramatically,” Ahmed contended. “He knows the platform better than anyone else and can find newer, creative ways to re-imagine Twitter’s offering with a more business-minded approach than the ‘grand experiment’ he started with all those years ago.”

Ergen has a history of being a maverick. It’ll be interesting to see where they go with it. At the surface, the move seems to position them as competitors to Verizon, AT&T and other telcos that have a strong hold in telco & wireless. I think Charlie is thinking, however, of the infrastructural play. Combined wireless & satellite infrastructure opens up a world of possibilities that competitors haven’t, unfortunately, taken clear advantage of. With things like integrated place-shifting (via their Sling acquisition) Dish could, for example, offer unlimited slinging to wireless customers to grow market share. A “TV anywhere” provider could be an incredibly compelling selling proposition. That could easily push Dish to #1 in satellite and potentially even unseat an AT&T/Verizon from the wireless perspective.

People love to get out and move around during the warm summer weather and marketers will amp up their mobile focus to stay with them. Along with an increased spend in mobile display, I expect to see deeper native integrations including live streaming elements. This past SXSW gave us a sneak-peek of how infectious Meerkat or Periscope can be.

Event-based and OOH creative should also benefit from more robust proximity and location targeting capabilities to take sponsorships to another level. Expect some surprise and delight if you’re willing to go along for the ride.

Finally it’s too early for wearables but given the tremendous popularity of Apple’s Watch, I wouldn’t rule out an early adopter brand from making a splash this summer.

Digital and social media have sliced up the consumer landscape in ways marketers and brands are struggling to grasp. Technology has paved the way for time-shifted, place-shifted, on-demand content that caters to our every whim. Consumers demand the control to create their own bubbles of personalized myopia.

Feeling this pressure, brands strive to be ‘always on’. Some have even gone so far as reframing their marketing efforts similar to more traditional content publishers and magazines. The anxiety to create new, interesting and timely conversations is matched only by sheer explosion of opportunities to do so. And so brands feel compelled to capitalize.

But despite this complex and vast digital landscape, the television endures. The allure of live television, particularly, connects us in a beautifully simple and effective way.

And why wouldn’t it?

Plop yourself on the couch, push a button and disappear into the experience – sometimes so deeply you forget to check your phone (and probably pay the consequences). Newer phenomenon such as co-viewing and ‘second screen’ experiences merely enhance the main course: we’re all staring excitedly at the same moving pictures and words. And even if it’s for one day a year, America looks forward to the television commercials on Super Bowl Sunday.

Therein lies the conundrum for modern marketers and brands: the collision of content and context.

The $4.5 million question is: How do you balance the special, communal viewing aspects of a live event with the desire to capitalize on the slew of opportunities before, during and after the game?

In their desire to chase the smorgasbord of opportunities and broaden exposure, many brands spread themselves incredibly thin. It’s like the philosophy of the short passing game. Get the ball out quickly and chip away to get the job done.

But it’s hard to get excited about most of them.

Brands are increasingly sacrificing the preciousness of ‘the reveal’ during the game by releasing their spots ahead of time. When aired, those that lagged behind were simply caught up to where everyone was days or weeks prior. With several million YouTube views being racked up before the game, it’s hard to argue against the effectiveness of that approach (assuming that views are one of your key metrics of success, of course, but that’s a whole new discussion).

What happened to the deep ball? It feels a bit deflated (no pun intended, Pats fans).

It’s encouraging to see that some are going the ‘teaser’ route or leveraging the element of surprise altogether. And it will be interesting to see if ‘holding back’ will result in greater bursts of exposure and help these brands cut through the clutter.

Assuming the spot is interesting, many will likely want to be the first to share it within their respective social following. With the right social and paid media support, brands could greatly amplify this phenomenon.

Who’s Azher?

A business leader who's built and grown modern marketing capabilities (read: tech- & data-infused) for large agencies and their clients including FCB, Arnold, The Martin Agency and currently DDB. If you’d like to learn more, tap here.

Who’s Azher?

A business leader who's built and grown modern marketing capabilities (read: tech- & data-infused) for large agencies and their clients including FCB, Arnold, The Martin Agency and currently DDB. If you’d like to learn more, tap here.

A business leader who's built and grown modern marketing capabilities (read: tech- & data-infused) for large agencies and their clients including FCB, Arnold, The Martin Agency and currently DDB. If you’d like to learn more, tap here.